Thread: Evaporation

Yesterday, I experienced a most curious phenomenon. I poured water straight on my 12K stone and it evaporated immediately. It didn't run off, it simply disappeared! In a second, it was gone. I watched it before my very eyes. I'm brand new at this honing thing, so maybe this isn't as unusual as it seemed to me, but does this kind of thing happen all the time? Sorry, I can't give you the name of the hone.

Thats not evaporation you witnessed. It soaks into the stone.

Odd that a 12k would absorb water that quickly, as such high grit hones are usually quite dense. But it certainly didn't evaporate... unless you'd preheated the hone.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

... unless you'd preheated the hone.

Is this a new SRP approved method? Can you teach us?

Still in the testing phases, but this new progression is HOT!

^THIS IS A JOKE! I DO NOT SUGGEST HEATING YOUR HONES!

I remember my naniwa 12k being a very thirsty hone when i had one.

Originally Posted by JMS

Is this a new SRP approved method? Can you teach us?

EDIT: The below is a bad JOKE. DO NOT heat you hones. DO NOT cool your hones.

Well, to quote my fifth grade self...

Duh!

Of course you want to pre-heat the hone. Any idiot knows that molecular motion is faster at higher temperatures. You want those grits dancing around the hone in order to speed up cutting action. The droplets of water on a properly heated hone should dance across the hone in the same manner as when you drop water in a skillet to test for adequate heating. Now the key is to keep the temperature just below ruining the temper of the blade or leaving singe marks in your dining room table. If you go over, you will regret the effect on your razor and your wife.

Now, obviously, the high heat hone is only for bevel setting. As you transition from setting the bevel to further sharpening, the temperature of the hone should be gradually reduced down to room temperature. This will slow down the vibrations of the grits and will allow for finer cutting into the steel.

The real challenge comes in the polishing stage. You would not believe the number of liquid nitrogen tanks Lynn has stashed away in his basement and I bet most of you don't even know about this secret. That's right, the honemeisters don't tell you everything they do to get those perfect edges. They give you just enough to think you are on the right path but they don't tell you the important stuff like the need for a 400 degree temperature drop between bevel setting and final polish. Anything above a 10k hone has to be done on a block of dry ice. Any hone above 20k has to be partially submerged in liquid nitrogen in order to slow the natural vibration of the grit down to a frequency of 42 Hz. That is the only way to get the most out of your hones.

Some of you guys actually remain under the delusion that honing is easy!

EDIT: The above is a bad JOKE. DO NOT heat you hones. DO NOT cool your hones.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Well, to quote my fifth grade self...

Duh!

Of course you want to pre-heat the hone. Any idiot knows that molecular motion is faster at higher temperatures. You want those grits dancing around the hone in order to speed up cutting action. The droplets of water on a properly heated hone should dance across the hone in the same manner as when you drop water in a skillet to test for adequate heating. Now the key is to keep the temperature just below ruining the temper of the blade or leaving singe marks in your dining room table. If you go over, you will regret the effect on your razor and your wife.

Now, obviously, the high heat hone is only for bevel setting. As you transition from setting the bevel to further sharpening, the temperature of the hone should be gradually reduced down to room temperature. This will slow down the vibrations of the grits and will allow for finer cutting into the steel.

The real challenge comes in the polishing stage. You would not believe the number of liquid nitrogen tanks Lynn has stashed away in his basement and I bet most of you don't even know about this secret. That's right, the honemeisters don't tell you everything they do to get those perfect edges. They give you just enough to think you are on the right path but they don't tell you the important stuff like the need for a 400 degree temperature drop between bevel setting and final polish. Anything above a 10k hone has to be done on a block of dry ice. Any hone above 20k has to be partially submerged in liquid nitrogen in order to slow the natural vibration of the grit down to a frequency of 42 Hz. That is the only way to get the most out of your hones.

Some of you guys actually remain under the delusion that honing is easy!

Do you think the dry ice would crack the plastic bases on my naniwas?? just kidding.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Well, to quote my fifth grade self...

Duh!

Of course you want to pre-heat the hone. Any idiot knows that molecular motion is faster at higher temperatures. You want those grits dancing around the hone in order to speed up cutting action. The droplets of water on a properly heated hone should dance across the hone in the same manner as when you drop water in a skillet to test for adequate heating. Now the key is to keep the temperature just below ruining the temper of the blade or leaving singe marks in your dining room table. If you go over, you will regret the effect on your razor and your wife.

Now, obviously, the high heat hone is only for bevel setting. As you transition from setting the bevel to further sharpening, the temperature of the hone should be gradually reduced down to room temperature. This will slow down the vibrations of the grits and will allow for finer cutting into the steel.

The real challenge comes in the polishing stage. You would not believe the number of liquid nitrogen tanks Lynn has stashed away in his basement and I bet most of you don't even know about this secret. That's right, the honemeisters don't tell you everything they do to get those perfect edges. They give you just enough to think you are on the right path but they don't tell you the important stuff like the need for a 400 degree temperature drop between bevel setting and final polish. Anything above a 10k hone has to be done on a block of dry ice. Any hone above 20k has to be partially submerged in liquid nitrogen in order to slow the natural vibration of the grit down to a frequency of 42 Hz. That is the only way to get the most out of your hones.

Some of you guys actually remain under the delusion that honing is easy!

Well yeah why do you reckon some of us a dead set against hand held honing!?>?

Originally Posted by kevint

Well yeah why do you reckon some of us a dead set against hand held honing!?>?

Oh come on now! After a while you build up a tolerance.

I'm temporarily working in a lab in which I was asked to find a tumor cell line frozen in 1993. Apparently this lab doesn't believe in record-keeping, as the strategy I was given to locate it was "well it's in there somewhere." After looking at every vial in every box and cane in 4 tanks I finally had to report that the desired vials no longer seemed to be in the lab's possession. To me, the response was priceless..."well, just keep looking."